


Free! Iwatobi Swim Club: Yaoi Edition!

by FusionFollower



Category: Free!
Genre: A retelling of the anime, Alternate Universe, Angst, Everyone's gay, Fluff, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, I make it the yaoi everyone wanted it to be, I wanna take mah time, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Not really sure what to do with Makoto, Rei struggles, Rin struggles, Slow Burn, This is literally just a 'what if the guys actually liked each other' AU, angst with happy ending, everyone struggles, feel free to give me suggestions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 06:35:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26348695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FusionFollower/pseuds/FusionFollower
Summary: There's a lot more going on between Haru and Rin than Nagisa and Makoto realized, more reasons as to why their friendship seemed to end. It wasn't just about swimming after all.OR: A retelling of the entire anime but Rin's a little bit in love with Haru and Haru's a lot in love with Rin.
Relationships: Hazuki Nagisa/Ryuugazaki Rei, Matsuoka Rin/Nanase Haruka
Comments: 7
Kudos: 24





	1. Reunion At The Starting Block!

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Free!
> 
> Okay.
> 
> Okay.
> 
> Shhh.... Shhh...look into my eyeballs *holds your face and stares deeply into your colored orbs* I know, this first chapter is barely different from the first episode of Free, but you gotta trust me, the changes are coming, but we gotta get here. Baby steps man, baby steps. So sit back, grab some grilled fish, and get ready to go on this very slow ride with me as I write Free! but with actual Yaoi.
> 
> Also, I know. I KNOW. Makoharu is typically liked more than RinHaru, I get it. I do guys. I understand. I like Makoharu too. But I really feel like for the sake of the story, at least FOR NOW, for season one, Rinharu works a lot better for this. I'm not saying this won't ever change, but for now that's the way it's gonna be. So if you have any ideas as for what I should do with Makoto, I'd love to hear them, cause there's a good chance he won't end up with Haru.

_The water is alive._

_Once you dive in, it will immediately bare its fangs and attack._

_Nanase Haruka dove into the water with grace, swimming through it smoothly like a dolphin on a mission._

_But there's nothing to fear._

_Don't resist the water._

_Thrust your fingers into the surface and carve an opening._

_Then slide your body through that opening._

_Moving your arms, your head, your chest..._

_"His swimming always looks so smooth." Tachibana Makoto praised as he and Hazuki Nagisa watched from the sidelines. Haru was only a mere child, yet he swam better than most._

_Nagisa beamed up at Makoto excitedly. "Yep, like a dolphin!"_

_Their attention was drawn away from Haru however, when a boy stepped up to dive into the water. He was strapping on his goggles. "Who's that?" Nagisa asked._

_"Matsuoka Rin-kun. He transferred into our class last week." Makoto explained._

_Rin dove into the water with great force, catching up to Haru with the pace of a shark on the hunt._

_The boys swam as fast as they could before pushing off the wall to swim back the other way, and using all of his strength Haru managed to pull ahead and slam his hand against the other wall before emerging from the water with a pant, ripping off his goggles and swim cap to reveal short, messy black hair and bright blue eyes._

_Makoto offered him a hand. "Nobody can beat you when you're in the water, Haru-chan." He praised._

_At the -chan, Haru let out a little grumble before taking his hand. "Stop calling me -chan already." He stepped out of the water._

_Nagisa looked up at him with great enthusiasm. "That was so cool, Nanase-kun! I wanna swim like you!" He declared._

_Rin emerged from the water to catch his breath and rested an arm on the divider in the water. He slipped off his swim cap and goggles before smiling up at Haru. "You're as fast as the rumors said. What was your time?"_

_At that question, Haru looked away from him. "I don't care about my time."_

_Rin paused for a moment and just stared at Haru with silence, before bursting out into a fit of laughter. "That's just like the rumors said, too."_

_Haru's eyes widened, he looked at Rin with surprise before looking away with a slight pout, the lightest of blushes formed on his cheeks._

_Stepping out of the water, Rin stood in front of Haru. "Hey, Nanase. You interested in entering a relay with me at the next tournament?" He asked._

_"I only do freestyle." Was Haru's short reply before walking back over to the edge of the pool, he prepared to dive back in._

_That's right. I don't care about swimming faster times. All I want is to feel the water._

_Haru dove deep into the water._

_With my skin...my eyes...my soul..._

_To never doubt what it makes me feel._

_To believe in myself._

_Don't resist the water._

_Haru reached out a hand, allowing his entire being to connect with the water._

_Welcome it._

_We accept one another._

* * *

Haru sat in his bathtub with a bored expression on his face, a pair of swim trunks on his body. "Yeah...there was some funky stuff going through my head back then." He lifted his hand out of the tub and watched the water droplets slip off his skin.

_'There's an old saying my late grandma taught me. When you're ten, you're a prodigy, when you're fifteen, you're a genius, when you're twenty, you're just an ordinary person.'_

"Three years till I'm ordinary..." Haru mumbled to himself before sinking under the water. He stared up at the ceiling.

'Man...I can't wait to be ordinary.'

* * *

Makoto gleefully ran through the neighborhood, slowing down briefly to greet the older woman. "Good morning, Tamura-san."

"Good morning, Makoto-chan. Here, take this." She offered him some wrapped food.

"Thanks, see ya later!" He told her happily before continuing on his way. He walked up some stairs, only to pause briefly when he noticed a small white cat.

Crouching down, the scratched the cat's chin, causing it to purr with delight. "Good morning." He told the kitten with a grin before standing up and continuing up the stairs.

When he reached Haru's house, he tried the doorbell but no one answered.

Makoto glanced up to see a particular window shut off and let out a sigh. "Oh come on..." Running around the back, Makoto walked in through the back door of the house. "Excuse me." He called.

Walking down the hallway, he went into the room outside the bathroom and found Haru's clothes in a laundry basket. "Naturally, he's here..." He turned to the bathroom door and opened it. "I'm coming in." He announced.

Haru emerged from the water and shook his head around, causing the water to flick off his hair. His eyes widened when he saw Makoto, who was offering him a hand with a smile. "Good morning, Haru-chan."

"I told you to lay off the -chan." Haru grumbled as he took Makoto's hand and stood up from the tub, allowing Makoto to see his swim trunks.

"You were in the bath with your swimsuit on again?" Makoto asked with a sweat drop.

Haru stepped out of the bath. "Buzz off. You're gonna be late." He informed his friend.

"That's my line..." Makoto mumbled with a sigh.

Haru went to the kitchen and began to grill up some fish, much to Makoto's disbelief. "Wait why are you grilling fish!?"

"I haven't had breakfast." Was his simple reply.

Makoto did a once over of Haru's body and sighed. "And you're wearing your apron over your swimsuit...aren't you cold?"

"I don't want to get oil on my swimsuit." Haru replied.

"Toast and fish?" Makoto cringed when he saw the toast finish.

* * *

The boys were on their way to school. "So? Why did you come to get me?" Haru couldn't help asking.

"You didn't show up for the opening assembly yesterday." Makoto explained.

Haru frowned. "I called in sick."

"Do you know which class you're in, then?" Haru didn't reply. "We're in the same class again, class 1. We've got a new lady as our homeroom teacher. They already gave her a nickname, she teaches classical literature. But she's a little on the odd side," Makoto rambled as Haru glanced at the ocean.

 _'It needs to get warmer so I can swim in the ocean.'_ He thought to himself with a mental sigh.

Makoto smiled a little in amusement when he saw where Haru was looking. "I hope it gets warmer so you can swim soon." 

Haru looked mildly surprised that Makoto seemed to know what he was thinking and glanced away from him with a slight pout, making Makoto's smile widen.

* * *

"Mr. Tadakoro Junichi."

"Here."

"Miss Tezuka Kaori."

"Here."

"Miss Nanase Haruka."

Haru closed his eyes in defeat. 'I'm use to being mistaken for a girl.'

But Makoto raised his hand and spoke up right away. "Ma'am, Haruka's a guy."

The class burst out into laughter at this as the teacher looked embarrassed. "Oh, you're right!"

Makoto sweat dropped as the class continued to laugh and smiled sheepishly at Haru. "Sorry, Nanase-kun."

"No worries." Haru mumbled.

"You were absent yesterday, right? I'm Amakata Miho, your new homeroom teacher. Nice to meet you." The teacher introduced herself with a kind smile.

* * *

"I heard Miss Ama-chan is from this area. She went to college in Tokyo and found a job there, but she came back after her dream fell through."

"What was her dream?" Haru stared out the window as a bird soared through the sky, his classmates were discussing their new teacher.

"Beats me. Maybe she wanted to go into music?"

Haru frowned. 'We're suppose to be learning from a woman who became a teacher as plan B?' He sighed. 'I want to go home.'

Makoto held up his wrapped lunch. "So, lunch...wanna eat on the roof?" He asked.

 _'He needs to get a clue.'_ Haru grumbled slightly. Sometimes Makoto just acted a little too much like a leech...

* * *

A girl ran towards the school with enthusiasm as she yelled to her friend. "Gou, what are you doing? Hurry up!"

Gou ran as fast as she could, panting hard. "Hold on! And don't call me Gou!" She exclaimed, nearly running into someone.

A blonde boy past her quickly. "Sorry!" He told her in a hurry, not even glancing back at her. Gou stared at the kid for a moment, eyebrows furrowing. She swore he looked familiar.

* * *

"I didn't bring lunch." Haru commented as he and Makoto walked down the stairs in the school.

"Go buy something then?" Makoto suggested. "Or do you want some of this?" He held up the food that had been offered to him by the older woman earlier. It was some squid tentacles.

Haru stared at it. "Squid..."

"Haru-chan! Mako-chan! Its been forever!" The boys' eyes widened as they glanced down the stairs to see a blonde boy waving at them excitedly.

He grinned. "I'll be joining you guys at Iwatobi High School!"

"Mako-chan?" Makoto questioned, glancing at Haru.

"Haru-chan?..." Haru frowned.

Then, they both let out gasps as they realized who it was.

"Nagisa!?" The boy gave them an eye closed smile.

* * *

"How many years has it been?" Makoto asked, they were hanging out on the roof. "I don't think I saw you after the swimming club shut down."

Nagisa nodded. "Yep, because I went to a different school. There are cherry blossom trees next to the pool! Weren't there cherry blossoms next to the pool at your grade school, Haru-chan?"

Haru's eyes narrowed. "Can you stop calling me that?"

"But that's your name Haru-chan..." Nagisa commented with genuine confusion.

Haru didn't even know how to respond to that.

"But that pool is old and not in use. There's no swim club either." Makoto explained.

Nagisa frowned. "Where do you swim then?"

"I quit swimming competitively." Haru told him.

Nagisa gasped. "What!? Why'd you quit!? I was all excited about getting to swim with you again in high school!" 

"We're not little kids anymore. Things aren't the way they use to be." Haru replied stubbornly.

But this just made Nagisa sad. "Haru-chan..."

"Well, he stopped swimming competitively, but he still loves the water. Haru can't live without being in water." Makoto informed him with a smile. "During the summer he swims in the ocean and he was soaking in the tub this morning."

"What does that have to do with swimming? That just means he likes baths." Nagisa frowned, but then his frown flipped upside down as he was hit with a brilliant idea. "How about a hot springs club!? Let's start a hot springs club!"

Haru scowled. "I can't stand the heat."

"Don't be like that!" Nagisa whined.

Makoto smiled fondly. 'Nagisa hasn't changed one bit.'

"Okay..." Nagisa started, thinking up a new idea.

"I refuse."

"I haven't said anything yet!" Nagisa snapped.

Makoto looked over and his eyes widened when he saw Gou eating with her friend. She glanced over at them and frowned, causing Makoto to let out a slight gasp.

* * *

"Hey have you heard? The swimming club we went to in grade school is gonna be torn down soon." Nagisa explained as they left the roof.

Haru's eyes widened at this news.

"So before that happens, why don't we pay a visit?" Nagisa suggested.

"To dig that up?" Makoto guessed.

"Exactly!" Nagisa grinned.

Haru scowled and walked past Nagisa. "You can go by yourself."

"Don't say that! Come with us, Haru-chan!" Nagisa pleaded.

"Why don't you just humor him?" Makoto asked with a smile.

Haru shook his head. "No. It's too much effort."

"There's a pool there." Makoto added.

Haru's eyebrows twitched.

"A pool much bigger than a bathtub." Makoto continued with a smile.

Haru slowly turned to glance at him, eyes sparkling with a desire for water that he couldn't hide.

* * *

"Wow you live here by yourself, Haru-chan?" Nagisa questioned. The sun was setting, Makoto and Nagisa had gone over to Haru's house while they were waiting for nighttime.

Makoto smiled. "His mom went with his dad when he had to move because of work." But his smile faded as he saw Haru cooking more fish. "Fish again?"

"Nobody's forcing you to eat it." Haru snapped.

Nagisa beamed. "Looks delicious. Haru-chan was always a good cook."

Makoto looked down a little. "Are you sure about this?..."

"Weren't you all for it earlier? Are you getting scared?"

"It's not that. Is it okay for just the three of us to dig it up?" Makoto asked softly.

Nagisa frowned. "Can't do anything about that. Rin-chan isn't in Japan anymore."

Haru's eyes narrowed as he thought back to their younger days.

* * *

_"I won't be attending middle school here." Rin commented as he stood with Haru under the cherry blossom tree, looking at the bricks that the kids had drawn different things on._

_Haru's eyes widened._

_"Huh? What do you mean, Rin?" Makoto asked in shock._

_"I'm going to Australia." He explained._

_Makoto frowned. "You mean you're going to a different country?"_

_"Yep, I'm going to a swimming school." Rin added._

_Haru's eyes narrowed at this as he felt a painful ache in his chest. He stared at the brick that had the words 'For The Team' written on it. "What are you trying to do?"_

_Rin beamed as he glanced up at the sky. "I'm gonna become an Olympic swimmer."_

_"Why didn't you tell us?" Makoto asked sadly, feeling a little hurt. "What about the relay?"_

_"I'll swim in the relay. I'm leaving the day after the tournament. So this will be the last time the four of us swim together." Rin explained as he began to walk away from them._

_Makoto glanced at Haru sadly, seeing the hurt expression on the boy's face. This couldn't have been easy for him...Makoto...knew how Haru felt about Rin..._

_"I only swim freestyle." He hissed, trying to ignore the pain in his chest._

_But Rin was unbothered. "That's why you have to swim in the relay. This is our last chance. Let's swim together, Nanase." He insisted with passion._

_Haru stared at the ground, not replying._

_"If you swim with me..." At this, Haru glanced at him and Rin smiled, resting his arms behind his head as the wind blew his hair around._

_"I'll show you a sight you've never seen before!"_

* * *

"This place is pretty trashed." Makoto commented when they arrived at the old swimming club.

Nagisa grinned. "Here, just in case. Purifying salt." He showed off the napkin holding the salt.

Makoto frowned. "Salt?"

"This place is said to be haunted." He threw some on each of them.

Haru touched his finger to some of it and gave it a taste, frowning. "Nagisa...this is sugar." 

Nagisa sweat dropped and they all walked in. "Well, it's all mental anyways. So sugar will get the job done."

Suddenly, a can was hit and sent flying, making a bunch of noise. Makoto shrieked and hid behind Haru, grabbing his shoulders.

"My foot hit an empty can." Nagisa admitted sheepishly.

Makoto scowled. "Nagisa...You're doing this on purpose aren't you!?" He cried.

The boys continued on their way until they reached the locker room. "Hey look!" Nagisa beamed, running over to the lounge area where pictures were hung up.

Taking a closer look, they saw a picture of their younger selves, along with Rin. They all wore medals around their necks. Makoto was grinning while giving a peace sign and holding onto Haru's arm, Nagisa had his arm around Rin while throwing a fist in the air, Rin had his arm around Haru's neck and was grinning while holding the trophy, and Haru was smiling shyly at the camera, the lightest blush on his cheeks.

"This is the picture from when we won the relay." Nagisa commented.

Haru stared at his younger self and Rin with a frown, bad feelings swelling in his chest.

* * *

_A young Haru prepared to dive into the water as Rin swam towards him. He thought back to what Rin said before and slipped his goggles on before diving in._

* * *

_"The four of us won this together, so it doesn't make sense for one person to take it home. So let's put it in a time capsule." Rin explained happily as he covered the box containing the trophy with a lid. "And we'll dig it up when we're grown up," He glanced at Haru. "Romantic, right?" He teased._

_But despite him just joking, it made Haru's heart skip a beat. He smiled shyly before glancing away._

* * *

"Let's go." Nagisa told him. Haru reluctantly followed him and Makoto out of the locker room.

"You think the old marker's still there?" Nagisa asked.

Makoto gulped. "Can we pick up the pace a little?" He hated the dark.

But then all came to a stop as they heard someone walking down the hall. They glanced down and saw someone slowly approaching them.

They were wearing a hat that hid their face, but as they slowly raised their head, Haru made eye contact and his eyes shot wide open.

"Yo." He greeted with a slight smirk.

"Who's that?" Nagisa asked awkwardly.

The man pulled back on the strap on the back of his hat, a motion the boys were quite familiar with. "Didn't think I'd run into you guys here."

Makoto and Nagisa let out gasps. "Rin-chan!?" Nagisa exclaimed as Rin removed his hat.

Running up to him, Nagisa grabbed Rin by his arms with a grin. "You're back from Australia!?"

"What are you doing here though?" Makoto asked with a smile.

"It must be fate! We were all brought here together-" Nagisa started.

But then, Rin scowled. "Haru, you're still hanging out with these guys? You never learn."

"Rin..." Makoto frowned, eyebrows furrowing.

Haru's eyes narrowed. "And what about you? Have you learned anything?"

"I'm glad you asked, why don't I show you? Let's race, Haru." Rin smirked, already heading for the pool.

Nagisa and Makoto could only watch in disbelief as Haru followed after Rin.

* * *

"I'll show you how different we are now." Rin snapped, ripping off his shirt.

Haru scowled, taking off his own shirt. "You don't have to prove anything to me."

Makoto gasped. "Wait, Haru this is a bad idea!" But Haru was already stripping down, showing that he had been wearing his swimsuit underneath his clothes.

"Man, they're both wearing their suits..." Nagisa sweat dropped, seeing Rin's swim pants.

The two ran for the pool and prepared to dive, only to realize there was no water in the pool.

"That's why I told you to stop." Makoto sighed.

"Lame." Rin snapped, already storming off. "Oh yeah, did you guys come here for this?" He held up the trophy.

Nagisa's eyes widened. "Our trophy."

"I don't need this thing anymore." With that, Rin dropped the trophy to the ground and walked out, ignoring their protests.

Haru didn't want to feel it, but he couldn't ignore how much his heart hurt as he watched Rin walk away from them, once again.

* * *

"A dream?" Haru mumbled as he opened his eyes, he was laying on grass.

Makoto scowled. "No it wasn't a dream!" He and Nagisa were sitting on the grass as well, they had some drinks from the convenience store near by.

Nagisa frowned. "I don't get it though. Rin-chan was really weird."

As they continued talking, Gou and her friend watched from near by. "Do you know them?" Her friend asked.

"Uh-huh." Gou nodded with a frown. "Nanase Haruka, Hazuki Nagisa and Tachibana Makoto. They use to belong to the same swimming club, and they all have girly names."

"That means you have something in common with them, since you're a girl with a boyish name." Her friend commented.

Gou scowled. "Stop calling me Gou!"

* * *

"Come on, the place may be abandoned, but it's still trespassing if you enter without permission, do you understand?" A man in the faculty office scolded Nagisa and Makoto.

Makoto sighed. "I apologize."

"We're sorry..." Nagisa frowned.

"Where's Nanase?" He asked.

Makoto resisted the urge to sigh again. "He left early this afternoon."

"Again?" The man snapped as their homeroom teacher walked over.

"Now now I think that's enough. Think back to what Li Bai once said. In human life, accomplishment must bring total joy, do not allow an empty goblet to face the moon. You only have one life so you should do what you want. It would be foolish to not drink from the glass placed before you. Right?" She asked with a grin.

They stared at her in silence for a moment, a little confused.

* * *

"Matsuoka Rin...does he really go to our school?" Nagisa frowned as he and Makoto searched the shoe locker names.

Makoto's eyes widened. "I found him! Wait...no, hold on...Matsuoka Gou? That sounds familiar..." Makoto gasped as it hit him. "Right! That's Rin's sister!"

* * *

Haru was resting in the tub once again. He dunk his head under the water.

Meanwhile, Gou was ringing the door bell outside. She frowned a little in defeat when no one answered and turned to leave, only to see a smiling Nagisa and Makoto staring at her.

* * *

"So you also chose Iwatobi High School, Gou-chan." Nagisa commented, they had taken Gou to a park area to talk.

She scowled. "Don't call me Gou, everybody calls me Kou."

"Huh? Why?" Nagisa questioned.

"The typical reading is Kou." She snapped.

"So what were you doing at Haru's place?" Makoto asked.

At this, Gou smiled sheepishly. "I wanted to ask him about my brother..."

"So he really is back from Australia?" Makoto asked.

"He returned last month, now he attends Samezuka Academy. It's a boarding school so he hasn't come home." She explained.

"Samezuka? The swimming power house?"

* * *

"No." Haru deadpanned.

Nagisa groaned. "Come on, let's visit Samezuka Academy!"

"Don't you want to see Rin?" Makoto asked.

"We saw him yesterday." Haru snapped as he dried his hair with a towel.

Makoto sighed and prepared to use the ultimate trump card. "Here I was thinking you'd finally get to swim if you came... Samezuka has an indoor pool..."

He really should have just opened with that, because Haru's eyes lit up brighter than fireworks.

* * *

Makoto and Nagisa snored loudly on the train, Haru stared at them strangely before glancing out the window, the sun was setting.

* * *

When they arrived at the academy, they saw many people training inside, but they didn't see Rin. Haru began to strip.

"Don't take your clothes off here!" Makoto exclaimed.

"You're the one who brought me here to swim." Haru exclaimed.

Nagisa smiled. "Hold on Haru-chan, let's wait until practice is over and everyone goes."

"It's still trespassing..." Makoto sighed.

But it was good enough for Haru, he continued stripping until he was only in his swimsuit.

"Can't you wait!?"

* * *

The boys sneaked into the pool when it was finally night and Haru began to strip once again on the spot. Before Makoto could even blink, Haru had jumped into the water.

"Haru-chan still reminds me of a dolphin." Nagisa smiled softly, even after all this time his admiration for Haru had never worn off.

Then he grinned and looked at Makoto. "Mako-chan, let's swim too!"

"Wha- we're suppose to look for Rin!" Makoto insisted.

But Nagisa was already taking off his clothes. He ran into the pool completely naked, ignoring Makoto's protests.

Makoto had no choice but to just face palm.

"Mako-chan, come over here." Nagisa told him.

"I'm not gonna join you-" Makoto told him, walking over. But Nagisa grabbed him by the ankle and yanked him in, causing the boy to shriek in surprise.

Nagisa burst into laughter. "You looked like an elephant falling in!"

Makoto ripped his shirt off and scowled. "Nagisa..." He approached the smaller boy, only for Nagisa to splash him with water, which quickly lead to a water fight.

Meanwhile, Haru was just floating and relaxing.

That was, however, until Rin showed up and caught them. "What are you guys doing here?" He snapped.

"We came to see you!" Nagisa grinned.

"Get out." He hissed.

"Rin-chan..." Nagisa looked at him sadly.

Haru swam over in front of them and lifted his head. "Free... Did you forget? I told you that I only swim freestyle." He began to climb out of the pool.

'About three years until I'm ordinary... I guess it couldn't hurt to wait a little longer.'

Shaking his head off the water, he smirked at Rin. "I want you to show me that sight again. I've forgotten what it was that I saw."

Rin's eyes widened, he scowled a little. "Sure, I can do that. But it won't be the same this time. I'll show you something completely different."


	2. Memories In The Distance!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are no words to describe how incredibly BORING this chapter was to write.

"As always, I can't make sense of you." Rin smirked as he adjusted his goggles.

Haru glared at him. "Whatever. You better get ready."

"You're as icy as ever, but honestly, I think I prefer it when you're icy." Rin sneered.

Haru winced a little at that jab, gritting his teeth as he thought back to when he was younger. The only person who could ever soften him up was Rin...

But not anymore.

"Makoto, give us the start signal." Haru told him.

"Okay. Ready? Go!" Makoto announced.

The two dived into the water in unison, Rin with a powerful kick, but Haru with faster strokes.

* * *

Rin laid in bed, thinking deeply. His phone lit up, and when he looked at it he was surprised to see a message from his sister.

He scowled at what the message said and threw his phone. "Dammit!" She was asking if he saw Haru and the others.

'Does this mean that I can't ever beat him?...' Rin gritted his teeth.

* * *

Haru soaked in the tub once again. He splashed some water onto the dolphin statue on the counter before letting out a sigh.

* * *

"Idiots! Do you actually feel bad about what you've done!?" The man scolded angrily. They were in the faculty office.

"Sorry." The three apologized in unison.

The man scowled. "First you trespass into an abandoned building, now another school's pool!? We're fortunate they've agreed not to make a big deal out of this."

"Now now, I think that's enough. There's a famous saying that applies to this situation. In Ancient China during the Shang Dynasty, Duke Tai of Qi would fish without any bait-" Their homeroom teacher started.

"I hate fish." The man deadpanned.

She bowed. "Excuse me."

* * *

"Miss Ama-chan wasn't much help, I wonder how that fish saying goes..." Nagisa commented as they left.

"Haru, do you know-" Makoto's eyes widened when he realized Haru wasn't with them.

Nagisa frowned. "He's out there." He glanced out the door where Haru had left.

"Ah, Gou-chan." Nagisa greeted as the girl walked over to them.

"I told you to call me Kou." She snapped. "Ugh, never mind. Did you see my brother?"

Nagisa looked at her sadly. "Rin-chan's so mean! We haven't seen each other in four years and the first thing he does is challenge Haru-chan to a race! He completely ignored me and Makoto. We didn't get a chance to talk about anything."

"Have you heard anything from him, Kou-chan?" Makoto asked polietly.

Gou shook her head. "I've tried emailing and calling him, but no luck. I even called his dorm number and no one picked up."

"How come Rin-chan's changed so much? Did something happen in Australia?"

At this, Gou looked down sadly. "I don't know...I was hoping that meeting you guys would get him to open up."

"Are you responsible for him showing up at the swimming club!?" Makoto asked in shock.

"I...I guess so...I was just trying to help. I was hoping Haru would have some answers, that's why I went to his house." She explained nervously.

Nagisa gasped. "I know! Let's start a swim club! Then we can see Rin-chan at tournaments!"

"I'm not sure Haru will be on board with that..." Makoto told him with a frown.

* * *

"Whatever. Knock yourself out." Haru told him simply, resting in the tub once again.

"Really!? Yay!" Nagisa beamed.

Haru ignored his enthusiasm and got out of the tub, drying off his hair.

"You're really okay with this? You know you're expected to join the club right?" Makoto asked with uncertainty.

"I know." Was all he replied with as he continued to dry off.

Gou couldn't help staring through her fingers, attempting to look away, but she just couldn't.

So...many...muscles...

"Oh yeah, this is Rin-chan's sister." Nagisa explained when Haru looked at her with confusion.

She swallowed hard, regaining her composer. "Hello, its been a long time."

"...Matsuoka...Kou." Haru hummed.

Gou beamed at this and blushed a little. "Yes! I'm sorry about what my brother did yesterday."

"Don't sweat it." Haru told her as he put an apron on, going to make some tea.

"Oh, if you're making tea I have some squid to go with it." Makoto told him.

Nagisa grinned. "I'll give you a hand!" He went over to Haru.

Gou glanced down at the trophy and photo sitting on the floor. "That's the trophy we won when we were younger." Makoto explained.

She picked up the photo and frowned. "Everyone's smiling...even Nanase-kun...he...actually looks really happy."

"Rin-kun always had that effect on him..." Makoto smiled fondly. "Even when everyone else made him frown, Rin-kun could always make him smile, no matter what."

As Haru cooked the squid, he tried to ignore the conversation happening behind him.

"So Rin-chan's never been back to Japan till now?" Nagisa asked.

Gou shook her head. "No, he comes back every year for New Years."

"What!? And he never told us!?" Nagisa snapped. Haru winced a little, eyes narrowing.

Makoto noticed his mood shift and looked at him with concern.

* * *

"Since everyone's on board, I picked up a new club application form." Nagisa explained on the roof, holding up the paper.

Makoto was surprised. "You move fast."

"It's important to get the ball rolling. There will be three members to start, Mako-chan you can be the captain." Nagisa told him.

"Shouldn't it be Haru? He's the fastest swimmer." Makoto insisted.

Nagisa shook his head. "It's not about speed. People are great at different things, and I just don't see Haru-chan as the...captain time." He admitted with a sheepish smile.

Makoto chuckled. "Yeah, that's true." Haru was unbothered, just continuing to eat his lunch.

"That means you're captain, and Haru-chan can be vice-captain!" Nagias declared.

Haru scowled. "Don't just volunteer me."

"Relax, you won't have any responsibilities. I'll be the treasurer, which means we just need a faculty adviser." Nagisa explained.

Makoto frowned. "Any ideas?"

"I was thinking about asking Miss Ama-chan." Nagisa grinned, causing their eyes to widen.

* * *

But Ama was against it. "I can't do it. Sports aren't my thing."

"But I heard that until last year you had a job involving swimsuits." Nagisa insisted with a frown.

Ama paled at this. "W-Where did you hear that?"

"From a classmate. You were like, a swimsuit designer right?" Nagisa asked.

"Ah...something like that..." She trailed off.

Makoto beamed. "That's perfect then! Please advise us!" He and Nagisa bowed.

Reluctantly, Ama agreed.

* * *

"I'm Matsuoka Rin's sister. I'm here to see my brother." Gou explained, she was at Samezuka Academy.

The man behind the desk looked at his computer. "It seems he's not back yet."

"I see..." As Gou left the room, she paused to stare through the window at all of the men who were swimming and working out. She couldn't help blushing as she stared at their triceps.

"Hey, so you're the one who's looking for her big brother?" A man walked up to Gou with a smile, he had short reddish hair.

Gou's eyes widened. "Ah, yes."

"Huh...you're really cute." He blushed.

She smiled at this. "Ah, thank you. I'm looking for Matsuoka Rin?"

"Matsuoka? There's no one with that name on the swim team." He frowned.

Gou let out a gasp. "Huh!?"

* * *

Rin stared at the different swim team pictures in the abandoned swimming club building. 

Reluctantly, he looked away, knowing there was nothing he could do to stop the aching in his chest.

* * *

"Now, in regard to the swim club charter you submitted. After strict review by the faculty," Ama frowned. But then she turned the paper around and grinned. "It was approved!"

Makoto gasped. "Really!?"

"I knew we could count on a former swimwear company employee!" Nagisa beamed.

"T-That's right, that's what I can do...anyways, the school requires each club to have four members minimum, so you need to find one more person." She explained. "Oh...and there's one more condition."

Nagisa growled. "I'm willing to do anything!"

* * *

The empty pool was filled with plants and trash.

"You have to restore the pool to a working state." Ama sighed.

Makoto and Haru paled a little and took a few steps back, only for Nagisa and Ama to grab them and smile.

"You're not allowed to run away."

* * *

It took them days, but they were nearly done with the pool. It was cleaned up rather nicely.

"Wow, it's almost done." Gou commented as she arrived, a bag in hand.

"Gou-chan, are you here to help?" Nagisa asked.

"I told you to call me Kou, or you don't get any of this." She snapped.

* * *

The sun was nearly set, Rin stared at the picture he took from the abandoned building with a frown. It was of a happy swim team.

* * *

"Hey there, interested in joining the swim club!?" Nagisa asked with a grin.

Ryugazaki Rei pushed his glasses up with a frown. "I've already decided on the track team."

Nagisa went and tried some other classmates, but no one was interested.

"No luck, nobody wants to join." He sighed, flopping down on a seat. Makoto smiled sympathetically at him.

Haru continued to work on making more weird mascot things for them to give away.

"Maybe we can announce that Ama-chan is our advisor." Nagisa suggested. "And that they'll get to see her in a swimsuit if they join!"

Makoto sweat dropped. "That's a bit much..."

"Excuse me?" The boys jumped in fear when Ama walked in angrily. "If you do that, I'll quit."

* * *

"I'll leave the juice here." Gou told Makoto as she walked up to him. He was repainting the green fence around the pool.

He smiled gratefully. "Thanks." She set the bag down.

But then she crouched down a little. "I don't quite get it though. Why didn't you try to start a swim club when you were first years?"

"Haru wasn't interested." Makoto shrugged.

"But he's such a good swimmer." Gou frowned.

Makoto looked down at this. "Haru joined the swim club in middle school, but he quit at the end of our first year. I don't know why, he didn't want to talk about it. Our old swim club shut down around the same time and Haru hasn't done any competitive swimming since."

Gou let out a gasp. "So he...wanted to quit swimming?"

"Probably." Makoto said in response.

"I wonder if my brother's the same way...I was looking for my brother the other day and found out he's not on the swim team. He transferred to Samezuka, yet he didn't join the swim club." Gou frowned.

Makoto's eyes widened. "No way. He just raced Haru and..."

"He must have lost. That's why he's given up on swimming." Gou suggested.

"No, that can't be it. When they raced that night..."

* * *

_They had been neck and neck, both incredible swimmers in their own right. But as they were reaching the end, Rin pulled ahead and managed to win. He smirked in satisfaction and slammed his hand down on the water. "Yes!"_

* * *

"My brother won!?" Gou asked in disbelief.

"Yep. But he didn't seem that happy about winning. In fact..." Makoto trailed off.

* * *

_Haru glanced over at Rin, the tiniest of smiles forming on his lips. "You won Rin. That's great..." He spoke sincerely, a familiar warmth in his chest that he use to feel every day for so long._

_But Rin scowled at this. "That's great?" He yanked Haru forward by the goggles around his neck. Haru's eyes widened._

* * *

"That's when we were caught by the teacher." Makoto finished explaining.

Gou frowned. "I don't understand..."

"Haru just wanted to swim, I don't think he cared about winning. He's back to his old self I'd say, for the most part." Makoto smiled fondly.

"...Will my brother go back to his old self?" Gou couldn't help wondering. She thought back to how happy Rin had been when he won with their team back when they were little.

Gou bit her lip. "...You need one more member right?"

"Yeah." Makoto nodded.

"Please let me join!" Gou insisted.

Makoto let out a gasp of shock. "Huh!?"

"You're the only ones who can change my brother. If you're willing to have me, I can serve as your manager and help out." She offered happily.

"What's going on?" Nagisa asked, noticing their talking.

Makoto smiled. "Kou-chan's offered to join the swim club."

"Really!? That means the swim club can open for business!" Nagisa beamed.

Haru paused his painting for a moment, the smallest of smiles grazing his lips.

* * *

"Oh that's great news, you'll get to swim with everyone once again." Makoto's mother spoke happily.

Makoto nodded. "Yep, we still have a lot of prep work to do though-" He got distracted by his siblings.

His brother scowled. "That's mine!" He snapped at his sister.

"You never finish your food!" She snapped.

"I finish the ham!"

Makoto intervened. "That's enough, stop fighting. Here." He gave them each some of his ham, making them beam.

"Speaking of which, isn't the old swimming club you use to go to being torn down?" His father asked.

Makoto looked down at this.

* * *

Sure enough, the process had already started. Bulldozers were working on tearing the building down.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Makoto turned to see a blonde man on a bike looking at him.

"Wait..are you...Coach Sasabe!?" Makoto gasped, realizing he looked familiar.

The man frowned. "Huh?"

"It's Tachibana Makoto!" He smiled.

Sasabe gasped as he realized. "Oh wow, you've grown so big! I work as a part time pizza delivery man now. Did you come here for one last glimpse?" He asked, referring to the building.

"Isn't that why you're here?" Makoto asked with a smile.

He nodded. "Are the other boys doing well?"

"Yeah, I go to the same school as Haru and Nagisa." He replied.

"Are you still friends with Rin?"

Makoto looked down at this. "...Yes...but he goes to a different school."

Sasabe smiled. "He looked pretty glum the last time I saw him, so I was worried. You know, cause of during your first year in winter? What happened with him and Haruka?" Makoto's eyes widened.

* * *

_Haru and Rin had arrived at the swim club while Rin was back from Australia to visit his family. Hesitantly, Haru slipped his hand into Rin's. Rin's eyes widened but he grinned and blushed like an idiot, which made Haru smile shyly. They asked Sasabe if they could race, which he allowed._

_But Haru had won easily._

_Rin had collapsed down on his knees out of the pool, tears in the corners of his eyes from frustration._

_Hesitantly, Haru offered him a hand, but Rin just stood up and walked past him, not bothering to glance back at him. Haru's eyes widened in disbelief and horror as he realized just how badly he must have hurt Rin by winning._

_"I can't believe I lost to a girly guy like you..." Rin sneered suddenly, making Haru let out a gasp. "Aren't gay people suppose to be weak?" Haru's eyes widened at this, and he felt a terrible pang in his chest._

* * *

Makoto stared at the floor sadly. _'I see...so that's why Haru quit swimming competitively...and why he stopped trying to hold Rin's hand...'_ They had been so close before, it wasn't weird for Makoto to see them holding hands or just being close in general. It was obvious to everyone that Haru was smitten with Rin, he was the only person who Haru would smile and laugh around. But since that day...

He just didn't understand. Rin always seemed to feel the same way about Haru...and yet...

Later that night, Makoto decided to make a call, but he only got the voicemail.

"Rin? It's me, Makoto. We're starting up a swim club. So you should join the swim team, we might get to swim together in a tournament."

* * *

Rin laid on his bed in the dark, scowling at the ceiling. "Don't need to tell me that. I already decided to join the swim team. However, I'm not doing this for a chance to swim with you guys." He glanced at the picture he had taken from the abandoned building.

* * *

"Here's to the establishment of the new swim club!" Nagisa grinned. Everyone clinked their drinks together.

Ama smiled. "It's not warm enough to swim yet, but we filled the pool as a test run."

Haru's eyes widened. And in less than a second he was stripped down to nothing but his swimsuit.

He dove in before anyone could stop him.

Yep...they were gonna need a very big net.


	3. Theoretical Dolphin Kick!

"Achoo!" Haru let out a sneeze.

Nagisa and Makoto, who had been sitting near by, looked at him curiously. "That was a loud sneeze." Nagisa commented.

"Haru, are you okay?" Makoto asked. They were at Haru's house.

"My late grandma use to say that if you sneeze, someone else is talking about you..." He mumbled.

Makoto offered him a tissue. "Here."

"It must be Rin-chan." Nagisa grinned.

Haru's eyes widened at this.

"No, I'm pretty sure he's just sick." Makoto reasoned. "It's because you were swimming in the pool during April."

"I'm not some baby who gets sick from swim-" Haru started, but he was cut off by his own sneeze.

Makoto smiled sympathetically. "It's too cold to swim right now, we'll just have to work out until it's warmer."

"Gou-chan told me Rin-chan joined the Samezuka swim team." Nagisa told them suddenly.

Haru froze at the news and Makoto let out a gasp of disbelief.

"Is something wrong, Mako-chan?" Nagisa asked.

"Ah no, but this means we might run into him during a tournament." Makoto explained with a small smile, glancing over at the picture on the floor of all of them from back when they won a relay together.

Nagisa beamed. "We should enter a tournament!"

"I only swim freestyle." Haru deadpanned.

"Does that mean you can't enter a relay?" Nagisa asked sadly. "Come on, don't say that!"

"We can't swim in a relay with only three people." Haru told him.

Nagisa gasped "We need to find one more member!"

* * *

Nagisa pouted a little as he sat on the train, trying to figure out a solution to their problem. "Everyone I asked said no already..." His eyes drifted over to the book someone was holding. It said 'Psychical training'.

He looked up to see Rei was the one reading it. "Ryugazaki-kun? You go to school by train?"

Rei gave a short reply. "Yeah."

Nagisa smiled. "I wanted to ask a favor, as your classmate-"

"I won't join the swim club."

"How did you know before I said anything!?" Nagisa gasped.

Rei didn't even look at him. "It was an easy guess, based on the posters in your bag and the Iwatobi straps you probably plan to give away to new recruits. As I mentioned before, I already joined the track team." He snapped lightly, adjusting his glasses as they reached his stop. He got off the train, much to Nagisa's surprise since school was the next stop.

He then watched in amazement as Rei jogged the rest of the way to school.

* * *

Haru let out a sneeze as he stared longingly at the school pool. "I just want to swim already..."

* * *

"We can swim here in the off season!?" Makoto asked happily as he and Nagisa looked at Gou excitedly. She had found a flyer for a sports gym near by.

Gou smiled. "Mhm!"

Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, Haru had appeared and was taking the flyer from her. "How do we pay for it?"

"With our club budget of course." Gou explained.

Haru's eyes were beginning to sparkle as he stared at the flyer.

"We can swim all year round!" Nagisa cheered.

* * *

"No way." Ama frowned.

"Whyyyy?" Nagisa groaned, they were all in the faculty room.

"The school isn't going to give that much money to a new club with no accomplishments. This is an aphorism from the bible: He who does not work neither shall he eat." Ama quoted.

Makoto frowned. "I don't think you're using that right..."

Gou spoke up. "So the best way to get secure money for our club is to show accomplishments."

Ama nodded. "Yes, that should work."

"What if we place during the summer tournament?" Makoto asked hopefully.

"Your case might be approved, but you'll need at least four swimmers." Ama informed them.

Haru was starting to lose it. "One more swimmer...and I can swim all I want!" Determination flashed in his eyes.

The others watched with disbelief as Haru left the room and started going up to every single person he saw, asking them to join the swim club. But nobody would bite.

* * *

"Hmmm, should the posters be flashier?" Nagisa wondered as he hung up a swim club poster and backed up to get a better look at it, but his attention was drawn to Rei, who had been walking by and reading.

He followed the boy to the shoe locker and beamed. "Ryugazaki-kun! Let's walk home together, we can talk about swimming."

"I have practice now. And there's nothing you can say that will convince me to join the swim club." Rei told him coldly.

But Nagisa wasn't going to give up, and when he saw Ryugazaki's name on the shoe locker, he knew Rei was the one.

* * *

"I found the perfect person!" Nagisa insisted, dragging the others to where the track team practiced. 

Haru frowned as Nagisa gestured to Rei. "Was he on the swim team in middle school?"

"Does he have a record?" Gou asked.

"It's his name. His name is Ryugazaki Rei-chan! He's a boy with a girly name!" Nagisa declared excitedly.

"THAT'S YOUR REASONING!?" Makoto asked in disbelief.

They all then watched as Rei made an incredibly high jump with the perfect form, it was so precise and beautiful it took Nagisa's breath away as he stared at the blue haired boy.

"Oh..." Nagisa's eyes sparkled with admiration as his heart beat wildly. Did it get hot out here? No...it wasn't summer yet...

* * *

Nagisa had waited for ages for Rei to show up, and when he finally did, Nagisa approached him happily. "Rei-chan!"

At first, Rei had completely ignored him, but he froze when he realized when Nagisa had called him and spun around to stare at him with an embarrassed blush. "Rei-chan!?"

"You can call me Nagisa." He grinned.

"I won't. We aren't that close." Rei deadpanned.

Nagisa smirked. "We can get closer if you join the swim club..." He stepped closer to Rei, who then stepped farther away, but Nagisa continued to follow him until there was no more space. "Come on, you can do swim and track!"

"Why would I do swim when humans evolved to be on land!? SWIM DEFIES ALL REASON!" Rei exclaimed suddenly, looking very bothered by this fact.

All Nagisa could do was stare at him.

* * *

"No luck." He told Haru and Makoto the next day sadly at school. "I don't think Rei-chan likes water."

But this just offended Haru. "We don't need someone like that."

"If you say that nobody will join!" Nagisa exclaimed, he leaned towards Haru, who paled. "WE'LL HAVE TO SPEND ALL SUMMER LIFTING WEIGHTS AND STAYING ON LAND. ARE YOU OKAY WITH THAT HARU-CHAN!?"

Haru looked like a fish out of water, as if suffocating. He gritted his teeth. "N-No..."

* * *

As Makoto and Haru walked home, Makoto spoke up gently.

"Hey, Haru? It sounds like we're gonna be swimming in tournaments. Are you really okay with that? Even if you end up racing Rin...and beating him...and...having him reject you all over again?..." Makoto asked hesitantly.

Haru's eyes widened, he looked a little hurt and embarrassed. "Who told you?"

"I happened to run into coach Sasabe the other day...he told me about how you beat Rin...and what he said to you afterwards." Makoto explained softly.

Haru stared straight ahead. "It's in the past. I'm over Rin, and he's swimming again...that's all that matters."

Makoto looked at his friend with concern, but didn't press the matter. He wasn't sure if Haru was being truthful or not, but either way, Makoto would support him, always.

* * *

Rei prepared to run and jump, but he ended up miscalculating slightly when he did it.

The coach walked up to him. "Ryugazaki, are you doing calculations in your head before you jump?" Rei looked at him. "You have perfect form, but that's all you have. You're too focused on the technical side of things. I understand that's your style, but you're not going to improve at this rate."

Rei's hands balled into fists.

* * *

"I have good news for everyone today. I was able to schedule a joint practice with Samezuka!" Gou cheered. She was at the pool with the others.

Their eyes widened in shock. "What really? Did you ask Rin?" Makoto asked.

"My brother won't listen to me. I went straight to the captain." She smirked. The captain had been more than willing.

Nagisa beamed. "Super manager Gou-chan-"

"It's Kou." She deadpanned.

Makoto grinned. "This means we can swim in an indoor pool!"

"But...it's a joint practice, and we need to bring four people minimum." Gou added sheepishly.

* * *

"Nobody told me there would be a joint practice." Rin snapped.

Nitori panted as he slowed to a stop, they were all jogging. "The captain made a call. Your little sister is a member of the Iwatobi swim club right? Their members are Nanase Haruka, Hazuki Nagisa and Tachibana Makoto. They all have girly names-"

Rin's eyes flashed dangerously.

"Ah, sorry." Nitori sweat dropped.

"How do you know?" He questioned.

The boy smiled. "I participated in that last tournament, back in grade school. We lost in the prelims, but I remember seeing you guys when you won! By the way, I've sort of wondered...is Nanase-kun your boyfriend? You guys seemed awfully close."

Rin growled a little. "No, he's not. I'm not gay."

"Oh, alright, s-sorry if that offended you!" Nitori bowed in an apology.

"Tch, whatever." Rin grunted, eyes narrowing.

* * *

Haru petted the cats that approached him outside his house, but then he let out a sneeze and scared them off. "Somebody's talking about me..."

* * *

The next day, as Rei was preparing to run to school, Nagisa came up to him. "Wait Rei-chan!"

"What do you want?" Rei sighed heavily.

"Can I run with you?" He asked hopefully, he was wearing a running uniform.

Rei stared at him for a moment before conceding. "If you can keep up."

The two begin to jog and a warm feeling bloomed in Nagisa's chest as he thought back to when he was younger. "This brings back memories. I use to run like this with Haru-chan to the swim club."

"Who's Haru-chan?" Rei asked as they turned. "What do you want?"

"I want you to join the swim club. We really need another member." Nagisa explained.

Rei looked down as he jogged. "Why does it have to be me?"

Nagisa frowned. "Because you're a boy with a girly name?"

This stopped Rei completely, he spun around to glare at Nagisa. "That's your reasoning!?"

"Well yeah," Rei face palmed. "But the main reason is because you looked beautiful." Rei's eyes widened.

Nagisa blushed a little at his choice of words and smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "I mean, when you were pole vaulting. Your jump looked really beautiful Rei-chan, it ah, well," Nagisa gave an eye closed smile as a light blush decorated his cheeks. "It really took my breath away!"

Rei let out a gasp at this, a light blush forming on his cheeks from embarrassment. He adjusted his glasses. "Well...I was just...following theory and calculation." His hands balled into fists.

"That's not something everybody can do. I suck at that stuff." Nagisa admitted. "I want you to use theory and calculation to look good swimming."

"That's not possible. You can't make swimming look beautiful, you're flapping your arms and legs while gasping for breath." Rei scowled.

Nagisa smiled. "Really? But Haru-chan looks really beautiful when he swims."

Rei's eyes narrowed. "Haru-chan again?" He continued jogging with Nagisa struggling to keep up with him.

* * *

"What are you doing?" Haru couldn't help asking when Nagisa arrived at school, panting and exhausted.

Rei walked over to them and Makoto with a frown. "So you're Haru-chan-san?"

"Don't put -chan and -san in my name." He snapped.

"Very well then." Rei nodded. "I will join as a trial member. But I won't do any swimming."

* * *

"Indoor pools are so nice!" Gou was practically swooning from all of the muscles.

And as a matter of fact, so was Nagisa.

"Mannn, everyone looks so good, hey, Rei, you should undress and show off your body too!" Nagisa grinned.

Rei scoffed, blushing slightly. "A-Absurd! Besides I'm not swimming!"

The captain from the other team came over to greet them. "Hey thanks for coming. You're Nanase-kun right?" He asked, looking at Haru.

Haru tried to listen to whatever the captain was going on about, but all he could focus on was Rin, who had been talking to someone in the background.

Gou noticed him and beamed. "Big brother!"

"What are you trying to do Gou?" He snapped.

"Rin-chan, let's swim together!" Nagisa grinned.

"You guys are a waste of my time." Rin sneered, heading for the door.

Rei's eyes narrowed at his attitude. "What's his problem?"

"Ah, there's some history here..." Makoto trailed off.

"Why don't we start with individual timed trials, you there, get in your swimsuit." The captain instructed Rei.

Rei grew nervous. "Ah, I'm not..."

"He forgot his swimsuit." Nagisa lied easily.

Unfortunately, they had spare swimsuits, so Rei found himself in nothing but a speedo. 

"The deal is that I'm not swimming." Rei snapped.

Nagisa's eyes were on his body, looking up and down. "..." He blushed slightly. "Rei-chan _is_ beautiful..."

"Hey, stop ogling!" Rei snapped, noticing he was distracted.

"Relax, these are just practices, it doesn't matter if you're slow." Nagisa assured him.

But Rei simply scowled. "That's not the point!"

Makoto stepped up and began stretching, that was when Gou happened to look up and notice her brother was still in the building, just on the higher floor. His eyes were on Haru, and only Haru. _'So he's curious...'_

Makoto swam quickly and Nagisa stepped up to go next, diving in once Makoto made it back.

"You're up next, Ryugazaki-kun." Makoto informed him with a smile as he got out of the water.

Rei was sweating bullets as he had no choice but to slip off his glasses and approach the starting block. He watched Nagisa swim towards him and felt his heart beating like crazy from anxiety. 

Nagisa touched the wall and moved out of the way, heading to get out of the pool, as Rei prepared to dive, thinking over the calculations in his head.

With perfect form, Rei dove into the water with the other swimmers, only to go absolutely nowhere. He sunk completely.

"Uh, this looks bad." Gou paled when she realized he wasn't coming back up.

Haru dove into the water faster than anyone could blink, and Nagisa dove under as well. The two helped pull Rei up to the surface, he gasped for air.

* * *

Rei sat against the wall sulking, a towel on his head. "Rei-chan can't swim..." Nagisa frowned.

"I told you I wasn't going to swim!" He exclaimed, looking away with embarrassment.

Nagisa looked at him sadly. "You should've said something earlier."

"I wasn't going to admit it. It would go against my sense of beauty." Rei gritted his teeth, hands balling into fists.

Haru walked away. "I'll clear things up with Samezuka." The others watched as Haru walked up to the starting block.

They watched with amazement as Haru dove in with the perfect form, and the grace of a dolphin. Rei's eyes sparkled and he stood up, staring at Haru intensely. As Haru finished his turn, Rei balled his hands into fists once more. _'Can I learn to swim that beautifully?'_

* * *

The next day, Rei officially joined the swim club, determined to learn how to swim like Haru.


	4. The Captive Butterfly

Haru stared down at the different pairs of swim shorts he owned. He just couldn't decide which to use...

* * *

Makoto wiggled the cattail plant in front of the white kitten, it tackled the plant happily and smiled at Makoto. But when Haru arrived, he gave the plant to the cat and stood up. "Morning. Today's the day Haru." He smiled.

* * *

Gou held up the official swim club papers. "Okay, we have four swimmers and it's finally warming up, which means we'll be training in the pool today-" The moment the words left her lips, Haru was diving into the pool. "Can't you listen to what I'm saying first Haruka-senpai!?"

While she was yelling at Haru, Rei picked up the paper Gou had and frowned. 'Is this some kind of formula?'

"Ah, KB means practice with a kickboard, pull is when you use a buoy to train your arms, and that's an abbreviation for medley race. It's where the four swimmers all swim equal parts using back, breast, butterfly and free in that order. Back refers to backstroke, breast is breaststroke, butterfly is the butterfly stroke and free is freestyle." Makoto explained kindly.

Nagisa smiled. "This is a solid training regimen, did you come up with this Gou-chan?" 

"Actually I found it in the house, it's my brother's old training regimen." She explained, giving up on trying to get him to say Kou.

Haru's eyes darkened at this as he stared down into the water.

* * *

As Rei did all the classic stretches, Haru looked over the training regimen. Gou smiled. "Are you that interested?"

"Not really." Haru insisted before diving into the water. Gou watched him for a moment and giggled a little. He and her brother were actually quite similar sometimes.

 _'He's totally interested.'_ She grinned.

Nagisa shivered in the water. "So cold..." He glanced over to see Rei still stretching.

"You gonna be okay?" Makoto asked with concern.

But Rei smiled proudly. "I've memorized the theory of swimming over the past few days."

Everyone watched as Rei stepped up to the starting block with confidence and dove in with an even better form than before.

Only to go absolutely nowhere and sink.

"I think you need to start by learning how to swim." Nagisa advised him with a grin.

* * *

Makoto and Nagisa stood in the water with Rei. "We'll start with the turtle float, I'll show you how it's done." Nagisa told him before getting into position. He curled up in the water, showing his back to them.

"You hug your knees to your chest and relax." Makoto explained.

"It's not beautiful..." Rei frowned.

Makoto let out a sigh. "Just try it."

Rei did as told and did the position just as Nagisa had, but the moment he tried to extend his limbs to swim, he completely sank.

Gou watched them for a moment before glancing at Haru, who had swam by her. "Haruka-senpai, why do you swim?"

"I don't have a reason." Haru admitted, looking down.

"My brother's dream is to become an Olympic swimmer. That's why he went to study in Australia." She explained.

"That's got nothing to do with me." Haru snapped. "Besides, it's just a dream."

Gou frowned. "Perhaps. But I think he'll be closer to his dream if he's with you guys." Haru bit his lip as Gou smiled fondly at him.

* * *

Nitori pressed down on the timer as Rin approached him in the water. "Good job." He praised.

"One more run." Rin insisted, panting hard. He was already diving in, giving Nitori no time to say anything.

Later, Rin wiped his hair with a towel. "You're amazing, Matsuoka-senpai." Nitori told him, they were in Rin's room.

Rin huffed. "Stop praising me and focus on your own style." 

"I'm a lost cause. I think it comes down to talent. I was really impressed by Nanase-kun at the practice." He smiled.

"Nitori, is that really what you think?" Rin questioned coldly, ripping the towel off his head. Nitori's eyes widened. "They just started their swim club, without any time to really practice. You can tell by looking at their bodies, they haven't been working out." With that, Rin left to go for a jog.

He gritted his teeth as he thought to himself. _'Given his condition, that win meant nothing. I can't even count it.'_

* * *

Nagisa entered the classroom. "Mako-chan, Haru-chan!" He ran in, dragging a protesting Rei with him. He slammed a magazine down on the desk. It was uniforms.

"Uniforms?" Makoto questioned.

"We should get matching uniforms!" Nagisa explained.

"The Samezuka have a Shark and Katana on their uniforms." Makoto spoke in thought.

Nagisa smiled. "What should we have? What do you think Haru-chan?"

Haru drew up a quick sketch of their creepy Iwatobi mascot. Rei's jaw dropped. "Beautiful..." How did Haru do it? He made something so ugly into something so lovely...

* * *

"Forget about matching uniforms. I redid the regimen, Rei-kun, you've got a week to learn to swim." Gou told him with a frown.

Rei chuckled. "Impossible."

"DON'T LAUGH. IF YOU FAIL YOU CAN'T COMPLETE THIS REGIMEN!" Rei paled.

And thus, began their days of training.

* * *

They tried for the next two days to teach Rei to swim, but nothing was working.

Now they were at Haru's house, since it was pouring down rain and they couldn't use the pool.

"Okay, let's beginning the meeting to figure out why Rei-chan can't swim." Nagisa announced.

Haru frowned. "The water doesn't like you." He told Rei.

Rei growled. "The problem is the way you guys teach! If I had a proper coach I'd be fine!"

"A coach huh?..." Makoto hummed.

* * *

Sasabe scowled as he grabbed a slice of pizza. "You want me to teach some kid who sinks like a rock?"

"Come on, teach him." Nagisa whined, shoving pizza in his mouth.

"I'm a busy man, teach him yourself." He deadpanned, leaving the house.

* * *

Rei decided the swimsuit was the problem, so they went to buy some new ones.

"So much to choose from." Gou commented with surprise as she looked over the options.

"There's a lot to account for, ah, and I'll need these prescription goggles." Rei smiled.

"You can't see without your glasses?" Nagisa snatched the glasses off Rei's face and threw them on despite Rei's protests.

He grinned, eyes a bit glazed over since he couldn't see with the glasses on. "Haha, this is weird!" He started wandering around with Rei following, the latter concerned for his eyesight.

Meanwhile, Haru was staring down different swim shorts. "I'm going to try this on." He decided, picking up the swim shorts that looked identical to the pairs he already owned.

Makoto and Nagisa waited outside the changing room as Haru and Rei tried on the swimsuits, when they opened the curtains, Gou nearly had a nose bleed.

"A rainbow!?" Nagisa beamed, seeing Rei's rainbow striped swim pants.

Rei smiled proudly. "It's to show my support to the LGBTQA community, living my truth."

"That's so cool Rei-chan! We should all live our truths!" Nagisa exclaimed with a grin, running forward and grabbing Rei by his arms. Rei's eyes widened as he stared down at Nagisa who was still beaming at him. He blushed slightly and looked away.

"Y-Yes well, it's nothing." He insisted awkwardly.

"There. What do you think?" Haru asked when he came out in his swim shorts.

Makoto sweat dropped. "You look exactly the same."

"I like the way this one fits." Haru smiled softly.

"Mako-chan, let's try some on!" Nagisa insisted, growing inspired. Makoto's jaw dropped in disbelief.

Gou sighed happily as she watched from a bench. 'Changing rooms and muscles...'

But as time went on, Gou found herself growing bored of watching them change over and over again. How long had they'd been here? She eventually went and grabbed a drink from the vending machine, only for the captain of the Samezuka swim team to come up to her.

"Nice to see you here, are you doing some shopping Gou-chan?" He asked.

Gou sighed. "Yes, well, sort of."

"My team and I are getting swimsuits." He explained.

Gou's eyes widened. "My brother's here?"

* * *

Haru stepped out of the changing room, but much to his shock and disbelief, a familiar face stepped out from the changing room next to his.

Rin froze when he turned his head. "Haru!?"

"R-Rin!?" His eyes drifted down slightly to Rin's shirtless form, then down to his swim pants. They fit him perfectly. Haru forced himself to look back at Rin's face.

And funny enough, Rin was having the same problem. His eyes kept dancing around, looking at Haru's form in his new swimsuits, even if it looked the same to others, he could see that it fit him better. It hugged his hips in a more flattering way and showed off his thigh muscles better. Gritting his teeth, Rin looked back at Haru's face, a light blush on his face. _'W-What the hell is wrong with me!?'_

"I wanted to talk to you, come with me." Rin told him simply.

* * *

The boys got dressed and went outside the store to talk, near the green metal fence. "Haru what have you been doing the last three years? You're better than this."

"I'm not better than someone who just got back from Australia." Haru shot back, keeping his distance from Rin, who was leaning against the fence.

Rin's eyes narrowed, he looked at Haru. "Are you mocking me?"

"I'm not. You won our race." Haru told him calmly.

"It'd be hard not to beat you in the shape you're in." Rin insisted.

Haru closed his eyes, already getting a sense of what Rin was getting at. "A win is a win. You won." He opened his eyes and looked away softly. "Isn't that good enough?"

"It's not! I want a real race!" Rin looked down, almost regretfully. "Or else...I won't be able to move on..." 

Haru gritted his teeth. "You're a pain." With that, he began to walk away. "I only swim free. I won't swim for you anymore." He began to walk away.

But to his shock, Rin ran up to him and grabbed him by the shoulder, shoving him into the wall and towering over him with such fierceness Haru forgot to breath, eyes locking with the other's as he felt his heart skip around in a familiar way, the way it use to all those years ago.

"You're going to swim from me." Rin commanded, staring him down.

Haru's eyes drifted down to Rin's lips before snapping up to his eyes again. His grip on the fence tightened as he had to stop himself from leaning in. _'What am I doing?...'_ His eyes dulled. _'I thought I had moved on already...'_

"Tch, you haven't changed. I'm not stupid, you're still into me and I can see it clearly. Well get over it," Rin sneered. "Your kind disgusts me and it always will. That's why I need to beat you, so I can put it all behind me."

This cause a fire to grow in Haru's chest. He reached up and gripped Rin's arm tightly, surprising the boy. He shoved Rin away from him with a glare. "In that case, I want you to promise me something. If you lose, don't say you're going to quit. Don't embarrass yourself. Don't cry if you lose." He snapped. Rin's eyes widened. "And...just remember Rin, _you're_ the one who grabbed my hand _first._ " Haru snapped before letting him go and walking away, storming off towards the store.

Rin's eyes widened even more as he gritted his teeth, heart pounding in his chest so much he felt sick. He stormed off the other way.

But as Haru headed for the store, he froze, finding himself staring at a startled Gou who had been listening behind the wall. He gulped and looked at him timidly.

But to her shock, Haru didn't say anything, instead walked past her as the others came out of the store to find them and let them know they finished shopping.

* * *

Rei tried desperately the next day to swim, but even with all of the professional gear, he made no progress.

Finally, Haru agreed to teach him.

They must have spent hours on it, Haru did his best to teach Rei whatever he could, but when Rei finally tried to do it himself, it just wouldn't work.

"Look, do what you want. Don't think about swimming, just dive in." Haru told him.

"What does that even mean? I just want to swim as freely as you." Rei admitted sadly.

Haru frowned, thinking back to his encounter with Rin. "I'm not free either." He told Rei reluctantly as a butterfly flew over and landed on his collar bone,

Rei's eyes widened as he stared at Haru, the words sinking in.

* * *

The next morning, they were shocked to discover Rei swimming the butterfly, they weren't sure why, but he could do it. Which meant he had just barely learned to swim in the week they had.


End file.
